Ex-footballer jailed for 30 years after £2million international drugs & guns empire was smashed
AN ex-footballer has been locked up for 30 years after running a massive £2million international drug and gun ring.
Wayne McKenzie, 48, was thrown behind bars for bringing cocaine and cannabis into the UK from the Netherlands, Spain and the US.
Alongside his brother Craig McKenzie, 41, the 48-year-old managed to supply Brit dealers with Class A and B drugs worth more than £2m at street value over a four-month period.
The men were brought down in 2022 after cops hacked the EncroChat phone network the pair had been using to source and sell the drugs.
McKenzie, who used to play professional football in Scandinavia, appeared in the Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, accused of six offences.
A jury found him guilty and he was jailed for three decades.
BBC reported The National Crime Agency (NCA) found McKenzie and his brother were connected to the supply of drugs worth a total of more than £2m between March and June 2020.
Most of the drugs the ex-footballer imported were sent to dealers in Liverpool and Manchester, but he also supplied to Wales and London.
He was caught out when French police hacked the EncroChat platform – which is almost exclusively used by criminals – in 2020.
The force then passed on evidence to police throughout Europe.
McKenzie was also found to have been involved in “extensive” discussions about bringing firearms into the country.
In one conversation he boasted about smuggling a gun to the UK hidden in chemical waste – saying the firearm went “straight to kids in London”.
In another, McKenzie said was chatting to a trawler who could help bring cannabis into the UK.
He was also in contact with “notorious criminals” based in Spain, which helped him launder the profits.
When cops raided McKenzie’s home they found a heap of hidden phones and a “burner” phone, pairs of expensive designer trainers, and paperwork linked to a business used for money laundering.
And it wasn’t the first time the 48-year-old had been caught out – he had been locked up for drug supply offences in 2015.
McKenzie had pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and money laundering in a previous appearance.
On Monday, following a two-week trial, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to import firearms, conspiracy to import cannabis, being concerned in the supply of cocaine and participating in an organised crime group.
Judge Andrew Menary, KC, sentencing, yesterday said McKenzie’s offending “brought misery and destitution to local communities”.
His brother Craig, 41, was thrown behind bars for 20 years in October after being convicted of drugs supply offences.
NCA operations manager, Dean Wallbank, said: “Wayne McKenzie was prolific in trafficking both drugs and firearms, selling them onto gangs and laundering the profits through notorious criminals without concern.
“Our investigation has dismantled this family crime group, which brought harm to the streets of the UK. Those streets are safer with him behind bars.”